


he is so cute

by MaddieandChimney



Series: Meet Cutes [5]
Category: 9-1-1 (TV)
Genre: F/M, Mentions of past domestic violence, Non Graphic, mostly implied - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-19
Updated: 2020-09-20
Packaged: 2021-03-07 18:08:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,803
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26541931
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MaddieandChimney/pseuds/MaddieandChimney
Summary: Her brother literally carrying her into the station in his refusal to let her stay home alone with a broken ankle, definitely isn't the way she had planned on meeting the people he considered to be family.
Relationships: Maddie Buckley/Howie "Chimney" Han
Series: Meet Cutes [5]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1927492
Comments: 4
Kudos: 39





	1. Chapter 1

It’s definitely not the way she’d rather meet her brother’s friends but Buck had absolutely insisted and then given her those big puppy dog eyes she couldn’t say no to. Not when she still felt the overwhelming guilt of not talking to him for three years coursing through her. He’d already taken a week off to look after her and she knew that he had to go back to work but she also knew he wasn’t going to be _present_ at work if she didn’t give in.

That was how she found herself, her cheeks flushing from embarrassment, sitting on the couch at the station, as her brother fussed around propping her broken ankle up on a bunch of cushions he had arranged for her. Maddie can’t stop herself from smiling at him, “I’m okay, Buck, I promise.” He didn’t look as though he believed her, he never did but at least he stands up straight and shoots her an uncomfortable smile.

Maddie can understand why he doesn’t believe her, she can also understand why he’s so terrified to take his eyes off her for even a second but it doesn’t make it any less embarrassing knowing she’s surrounded by people who work and who love her brother. “I-I know, I know. But uh—couldn’t just leave you immobile on the apartment for twelve hours. Look, you’ve got a book, a bottle of water, Bobby will be cooking in a few hours so you’ll actually get something good. Are you hungry now though?” He frowns as he looks at her, “You didn’t eat breakfast. Coffee isn’t breakfast before you say anything.”

She closes her mouth before the words can come out, a pout on her lips before she nods her head, “Thank you,” is what she settles on saying, giving him a small smile as she reaches out to squeeze his hand. She can see the unshed tears sparkling in his blue eyes, until he leans over and presses his lips to the top of her head and finally bounces away like the excitable puppy she knows him to be. He had spent the entire week telling her about how much she loved his job and the 118, the people he considered to be closer to family than friends. She hadn’t even met any of them but she felt as though she knew them.

Buck hadn’t stopped talking about Captain Bobby and how much he looked up to him, Eddie, the new guy who had tuned up in LA around the same time as she had and had left her brother feeling more than a little insecure, or about Hen who was the slightly sarcastic, yet caring paramedic, her best friend Chimney who was actually called Howie but had earned his nickname for reasons her brother refused to tell her just yet. Her brother had been most excited to tell her about how Chimney had survived a rebar through his head.

The amount of stories she had been told about the 118 over the endless week she had spent with her brother left her feeling more than a little awkward finally meeting them. She knows that she probably knows a lot more about them than her brother had had a chance to tell them about her, at least for now. The introductions had been fleeting at best, thanks to her being unable to stay on her feet for too long and then the father mortifying fact that her brother had insisted on _carrying_ her up the steps.

It’s not until the alarm sounds off and she listens to her brother running down the stairs with a loud ‘bye’ that she even notices one person had stayed behind. Chimney, with an awkward smile on his face as he scratches the back of his neck, shifting from one foot to the other as though he doesn’t know what to say or do. It takes him a moment, as she watches him from the corner of her eyes, trying not to make it obvious she was waiting for him to make the first move, for him to walk over to her.

“Do you need anything?”

Maddie grins as she looks up at him, “You got first look after Maddie duty, huh?”

“Actually I volunteered,” That’s enough to make his face flush a darker shade of red before he sits on the coffee table in front of the couch, “figured you could do with some company that wasn’t your little brother.”

She laughs, nodding her head in agreement, “I love him but he’s very—I mean, I know a broken ankle isn’t great, especially when I kind of turn up in his apartment after three years and I’m limping. I guess I can’t blame him for being the way he is right now.”

He nods his head, “Anyway, I’m here if you need something, literally anything, just name it.”

“Do you have a blueberry muffin and a caramel cappuccino?” Maddie can’t stop herself from teasing him, her smirk growing when his eyes grow wide and he suddenly stands up, shaking his head.

“N-no, but there’s a coffee shop around the corner, literally give me five minutes, maybe ten.” She can’t stop the laugh that falls from her lips as she sees him patting around his pockets for his wallet, a slight panicked expression on his face as he does and she reaches out to grab his hand.

It’s with a shake of her head and a wide grin that she tilts her head to look up at him, “I was joking, if you have black coffee though, I would take that liquid goodness right now. Just don’t tell my brother, he thinks I have a coffee addiction.”

“That’s because Buck doesn’t need coffee to function, he’s perpetually enthusiastic without the need for caffeine rushing through his veins.” There’s just something about him that somehow leaves her wanting more and she can’t explain it, not when she’s just left her husband and has arrived in Hershey with a whole load of drama behind her. But still, it’s possible to want to be friends with someone so quickly, right?

He makes her laugh, a sound that still feels foreign to her, before he waggles his eyebrows, a glint in his eyes before he bows down a little, “Your wish is my command, I shall return with coffee and whilst I can’t do a blueberry muffin right now – offer is still there by the way – we do have a very good selection of homemade cookies?”

“That sounds amazing, thank you.”

Chimney walks away with a little skip in his steps that causes her to giggle, shaking her head, settling back onto the couch. Her fingers graze over the cover of the book she had been holding in her lap, quickly tucking it away on the side, realising she wasn’t going to be focusing on the book whilst it was Chimney’s turn to look after her. Her eyes follow him as he focuses on placing one cookie on a plate, a frown on his face, before he puts a second and then a third before he glances up at her and their eyes meet for a second.

All she can think, even for a second, is that he is so cute.


	2. Chapter 2

It’s with a gasp that she’s pulled from her sleep, hands immediately moving to her throat when she sits up. Her chest is tight, tears falling down her face before she looks around and realises she’s not in Buck’s spare bedroom or the couch of his apartment. And she’s not alone or with her brother who usually tries to hide his own tears and his own panic before wrapping his arms around her.

Maddie’s cheeks flush red when her eyes settle on the concerned look of the man she had only known a couple of hours. The paramedic who had apparently volunteered to look after her with her broken ankle and not with her traumatised mind, she almost wants to slap herself for falling asleep in the first place because she knows how that always ends. The last thing she could remember is him telling her all about his car accident as they ate cookies and drank coffee. She must have fallen asleep halfway through his story because she can remember asking him if he was nervous for his next doctors appointment and she can’t remember his answer.

That only increases the tension in her chest, bottom lip trembling as she angrily wipes the tears that have fallen with the back of her hand. “I-I’m sorry.” Buck had told her that sometimes she talks in her sleep, or rather, begs and pleads with a man that is thousands of miles away. She wishes they were only nightmares and not memories of a life she wishes she could forget.

“Hey, no, it’s fine.” She can’t help but wonder if her brother had warned him because he doesn’t seem outwardly surprised as he walks over to her from his place on the chair across from her. “Just in time for your painkillers anyway.” The way he smiles at least alleviates some of the tension, her shoulders slumping as she watches him take her medication bottle and a bottle of water, holding out her hand for him to shake a few of the tablets out before he hands her the bottle. “Do you want to talk about it?”

Maddie knows she shouldn’t feel guilty, she’s only known him a few hours and she doesn’t really know how much her brother has told anyone in the 118 about her past, but when she shakes her head she can’t stop the way she quickly looks down at her lap in shame. “That’s okay, you don’t have to.” She hands the bottle of water back to him the second she’s done, watching as he awkwardly shifts from one foot to the other, clearly not knowing what to do with himself. “How about I sit with you for a while until you fall back asleep?”

It’s easier than it should be to push down the part of her that wants to say no because she’s grown accustomed over the last week or so to her brother holding her as she falls asleep. Having years of little comfort or comfort with an agenda had left her open to actually experiencing it. She’s slow to nod her head, eyes watching him carefully – her brother trusts him every single shift with his life, literally. He considers Chimney to be his family, like an annoying older brother he never wanted but was happy to have, he had described to her when she asked. If Buck trusts him, she knows she can, too, even if it’s hard.

It’s with her guard slightly up that she watches him sit down where she had been lying, moving the cushion on top of his lap as he does before he smiles at her. There’s just something about him that has her lying back down with her head on the cushion, shifting a little until she’s comfortable. Brown eyes watch him carefully, his hand moving slowly to her forehead to brush the strands of hair away from her eyes before he proceeds to gently run his fingers through her long hair. “Is this okay?”

“Y-yeah.” It takes her another moment to gather enough trust to close her eyes, taking a deep breath as she does. Another beat, until she feels her body relaxing, “I have nightmares, too. I know it’s not the same but—I do understand. I uh, can go a whole day without thinking about the car accident and then I’ll wake up in the middle of the night in a panic because it feels so real. I can—see the look on Bobby’s face and your brother’s, Hen’s… and even though I didn’t feel the pain at the time, not in reality, when I’m asleep it’s all I can feel.” Maddie doesn’t open her eyes, feeling a tear slip through closed lids as she lifts her hand to the that isn’t raking through her hair. She gives it a tight squeeze, just so he knows she’s listening, but she’s not ready to share her own story, not yet.

.

Chimney stays silent, waiting for the gentle rise and fall of her chest as he continues to play with her hair and brush his thumb along the back of her hand. Luckily, it happens quickly, and he knows she must be exhausted. Buck had told them probably far too much information than she would have liked for anyone else to know and he almost wishes he didn’t, so she could have had the opportunity to open up to him or to the others, in her own time.

It’s not the same, what his mother had gone through with his father, it had never turned physical but he had known something wasn’t quite right. It’s not the same but he knows that she needed that time and space to be able to admit to herself, let alone to the people around her. He lets out a small sigh as he looks at the sleeping woman, eyes glancing to the plaster cast over her ankle, part of him wondering how it happened whilst the other part knows it’s probably none of his business.

He bites down on his lip, trying to suppress a frown when she lets out a small whimper in her sleep. He’s known her for all of three hours and yet he already wishes he could take away her pain, both physical and emotional. “Hey, how’s she been?” He’s shaken from his thoughts, finally pulling his eyes from her face to look up at Buck, who had been unusually quiet in his words. There’s a fear in the blue eyes of the youngest Buckley that causes his heart to ache for the man and for his sister that he barely knows, forcing a smile when he nods his head.

“Managed to get her back to sleep, she’s okay.”

“Do you want me to take over?”

Chimney is all too quick to shake his head, cautious about moving and waking her, “It’s okay. We don’t know how long it’s going to be before the alarm goes off, best to leave her.”

Buck tears his eyes from his sister, gulping when he stands up straight, “You’re a really good friend, Chimney. Thank you.”

It’s clear how much the usually joking, hyperactive firefighter loves his sister, just by the obvious stress in his face and the worry lines Chimney can see forming. He doesn’t actually think he can remember a time when Buck was so serious, even when he was waking from his coma – vulnerable but never… _serious_. “You don’t have to thank me, your family is our family. But go grab me some coffee if you’re feeling nice.”

He has to force back a laugh at the eagerness of which Buck practically runs to the kitchen, watching him for only a second before the laboured breathing of the sleeping woman pulls his gaze down. Chimney squeezes her hand in the hopes it’ll offer some level of comfort, gently hushing her as he does, just in case she can hear him, waiting until her body relaxes once more before he looks up at Buck. “Will she ever be okay?”

It’s with the smallest of shrugs that Chimney responds, a small smile on his face as he reaches the hand that isn’t in hers for the mug of coffee Buck holds out for him, “She will be. Eventually. It won’t happen overnight but… she will be okay, Buck. You’re a really good brother, she’s lucky to have you.”

“I’m lucky to have got her back, I can’t let anything happen to her again.” There’s a fierce protectiveness in Buck’s voice that causes Chimney to inhale sharply, knowing how it felt to carry around the weight of guilt over something he had little control over. He was a child when his dad would scream at his mother and Buck was thousands of miles away whilst his sister was being abused by her husband. Neither of them could have changed anything but he knows that burden better than anyone.

“You’ve got all of us standing behind you, Buck, I promise.”

Both of their eyes are torn from each other at the sound of a small whimper from the woman Chimney already feels protective of, although not on the same scale as her brother who looks between wanting to burst into tears or punch something… or probably, someone. Her eyes don’t open though, so at least that’s something, even if he fears where her mind is right then. Even if he knows he can’t do anything about it other than sit there and hope their presence is enough of a comfort.


End file.
